Unlike last time, we started our journey on a Friday night. Picked all of our friends and started from Bangalore at around 12 in the night. Instead of taking the usual Bangalore-Mandya-Mysore-Periyapatna-Kushalnagar-Madikeri we decided to take the alternative route Bangalore-Kunigal-Hassan-Kushalnagar-Madikeri. We had to take this decision keeping in mind of the protests goin' on all around mysore district against the Cauvery tribunal. Monday, 12th of this month was declared as a Bandh and so we had to cut short out trip to just 2 days and reach home back before Sunday night.
Day 1
We went non-stop till Kushal Nagar and realised it was still 5:00 in the morning and it was total dark around. As advised by many people we stopped over in Kushal nagar for a break of almost 2 hrs and again started at around 7:00 towards Madikeri a.k.a Mercara.
Madikeri
Madikeri is the principal town of the district of Kodagu, in Karnataka state, southern India. It is often called Mercara, especially in English. It has a population of around 30,000. It lies at a height of 1,170 meters above sea level. The nearest cities are Mangalore to the west, and Mysore to the east. Madikeri Fort is a 19th century fort, in the centre of Madikeri, housing a temple, a chapel, a prison and a small museum. Raja's Seat offers several views of the surrounding countrysinde.
The road from Kushalnagar to Madikeri is awesome. You can see coffee plantations on either sides of the road.
Early morning view of the road leading to Madikeri
A morning view of a beautiful town called Madikeri.
Here's another one of the town
We reached our hotel at around 8AM which was exactly our check-in time. This is one of the decent hotels in the town called Hotel Hilltown. Although there are quite a few best hotels in the town which are on the higher side as well. This is one of the few on the budget side. A decent double bed room costs around Rs.600 + 8% tax.
Some more details about the people of Coorg/Kodagu.
The people of the district are of a number of distinct ethnic or caste origins. Political and economic domination is with the Kodava community. Other communities include the Tulu, Are Bhase Gowdas, Kodava Mophlas, Malayalis, Tamils, and other smaller communities
The Kodava community numbers about 100,000 in the district, out of a total population of over 500,000. They are ethnically distinct from the other people of the area. The names of Kodava people are characteristic and include a clan name. The clan is central to Kodava culture and families trace their lineage through clans. Marriage within a clan is discouraged.
Enlistment in the Indian army has been common among the Kodavas. The most famous son of Kodagu is Field Marshal Kodandera Madappa Cariappa the first Commander-in-Chief (as a general) of the armed forces of free India. General Kodendera Subayya Thimayya, of the same clan as K.M. Cariappa, also became a later commander in chief.
Here you can see few snaps dedicated to the Gallant sons of Coorg who died fighting for democracy in World War II.
Here we go.... we kickstarted our journey towards few places in and around Madikeri after having a quick 'n' tasty breakfast in the Hotel itself as it had a good restaurant within its premises.
Our first destination was Abbey falls.
Abbey Falls (also Abbi Falls) is in Madikeri District in the Western Ghats in the state of Karnataka, India. It is located 10 kms from the town of Madikeri.
In the mountains of the Western Ghats, several streams combine, swelling with the monsoon rains and plunging down the mountain slope at enormous speed, hitting the huge boulders hard and forcing through the crevices and ravines. A misty cloud hangs over the falls. From here the water flows into the the Kaveri River.
The waterfall is located between private coffee plantations with stocky coffee bushes and spice estates with trees entwined with pepper vines. The falls appear suddenly, the water cascading over rocks into calm pools.
During the monsoon season the water flow is very high. During the dry seasons the flow is considerably diminished.
As mentioned above, we are here after the monsoons and so could vouch that the flow is considerably diminished. But still its a good place and worth a visit at all times.
A distant view of the waterfalls from the corridor
Here's a near view of the same
From here we next headed towards a place called Nisargadhama which is also again in the Madikeri-Kushalnagar road. Well, if you are coming from Kushalnagar towards Madikeri, then Nisargadhama is just 3 k.m. away from Kushalnagar.
Nigardhama
On the Madikeri Kushalnagar route, 4 kms before Kushalnagar is Nisargadhama, a serene island. River Kaveri splits forming a beautiful island called Nisargadhama measuring 65 acres. The island is 100 mts off the road and you can park vehicles smaller than buses and mini buses in the parking areas. Entry fee is 10 per adult, boating 10 per adult, elephant ride is also 10 per adult.
The hanging bridge which will take you to the island is over the watershed and id you look closer or throw some bread crumbs, you can see lot of fish, smaller variety of Mahseers in the water. There are two types of boats. The pedal boats can be rented and pedaled by yourself around the watershed for 25 minutes. There are markings in the watershed, with in which you should restrict your explorations. The row boat is manned and six people can go at a time.
On the island there is a rabbit cage, children's play ground and a nursery for plans. The island is populated with bamboo thickets. Elephant ride and deer park is further inside and you can take a stroll through the heart of the island to reach these places. There are rest rooms in the island which are relatively neater and tidy. There is a primitive teashop selling ubiquitous tea and coffee and snacks and during lunch time, lunch.
The hanging bridge that connects the island from the parking area.
As mentioned earlier you can see here that the island is full of these kind of bamboo thickets
A bamboo treetop house
The deer park which is located further inside and you can always see lots of deers here
The River Cauveri that is surrounding the island
Well, that's me
After having a not so great and a expensive lunch in a small restaurant on the island, we next headed towards a place called Bylakuppe which is a Tibetian settlement.
Bylakuppe
Bylakuppe is the earlier Tibetan camp, which now has become a full fledged settlement. There are 7 camp areas spread across vast fields. Bylakuppe is 6 kms off the Mysore-Kushalnagar route.
Before Kushalnagar, you need to take a left turn at an arch indicating welcome to the settlement. If you miss this you can take a left turn at Koppa, before reaching Kushalnagar.
If you're coming from Kushalnagar , this will be the right turn for you to reach Bylakuppe. Koppa is three kms from Kushalnagar and Kushalnagar is 32 kms from Madikeri. You can make out the surroundings changing with boards appearing in Tibetan scripts and the typical colorful long flags appearing all around. You can sample authentic Tibetan cuisine in many restaurants inside various camps.
A major attraction is the Golden Temple at camp 4. It's part of the Nimdroling Monastery and there are deities of Buddha, Amartyusa and PadmaSambhava. The huge deities and colorful paintings all around the temple are mesmerizing. Foot wears are not allowed inside the temple. Rest rooms are available behind the main (Golden) temple, though not very clean and tidy.
Monastery has very nicely landscaped garden and well maintained lawns. If you're enchanted you can stand or sit outside the adjacent building where the nuns are being trained in various chants.
The main entrance to the temple
The Golden temple in the camp 4. One can see these kind of fully landscaped and well maintained lawns all over the area.
Statue at the entrance of the temple
The beautiful paintings on the walls of the Golden Temple. All the temples located here do have these kinds of paintings on the walls. Below are the two paintings on the either sides of the main door.
The main deities of the Golden Temple are Buddha, Amartyusa and Padma Sambhava.
The deities are so huge as you can compare them with the height of the people standing in the front
Well, you can see couple of these Relics on the both sides of the main deities.
Nicely painted interiors of the temple.
As previously mentioned you can see the well maintained lawns in the surrounding areas of the temple.
And here are some of my experiments in the garden
Rare vareity of flowers which I have never seen.
There are also couple of ducks in the garden
By the time we came out of this place it was around 5 in the evening. We had a good coffee in the restaurant located in the shopping mall outside the campus. We soon realised that it was almost half past 5 and we had to go back to Madikeri to watch the setting sun at Raja's seat.
There are also couple of ducks in the garden
By the time we came out of this place it was around 5 in the evening. We had a good coffee in the restaurant located in the shopping mall outside the campus. We soon realised that it was almost half past 5 and we had to go back to Madikeri to watch the setting sun at Raja's seat.
Raja's seat
Raja's seat is located near Madikeri town, or rather in Madikeri town, 1 km from the bus stand. This place used to be location where erstwhile rajah's sit and watch sunset. This is the place to watch sunset if you want to have a great view of the setting sun behind the folding misty hills. Be sure that you reach sufficient in time. You may not get parking nearby if you're late.
There are cement benches to sit and watch the valleys well below , the setting sun and once dark falls the faint lights of the vehicles come up through the winding roads from Virajpet. Setting Sun is a magnificent view from here. There is a small garden and you can find characters from cartoon movies holding trash bins.
There is a small toy train near by raja's seat which will take you around for a nominal fees. This place can get quire crowded in the evenings, especially during weekends. This also is the place to watch people in Coorgi costumes coming out to take an evening stroll enjoying the setting sun and the gentle breeze. In winter months this place can get pretty chilly by sunset. You can buy some hot fried peanuts from the abundant vendors and sit around the cement benches and spend a great romantic evening here.
As we reached the place just 2 mins late, we could not see the sunset, but could grab a couple of nice snaps of the twilight over here.
Right after the sunset, we spent some time here and had some good fried peanuts and left to our hotel. As I previously mentioned, the hotel in which we stayed (hotel Hilltown) had a good restaurant where we had a decent dinner at a reasonable price and went early to bed hoping to visit the Raja's seat the next day morning for a view of the sunrise as well.
But no one in our troop was interested in getting up early for the sunrise. But I was very interested and thought of visiting the Raja's seat alone in the morning as it could be a good morning walk for me including a good view of sunrise. But to my badluck, as usually I turned off the alarm and again missed the view of sunrise.
Day 2
The next day morning we had been to a temple called Omkareshwara temple located inside the madikeri town and luckily it was just behind our hotel we had to drive for just a minute to reach the temple.
The next day morning we had been to a temple called Omkareshwara temple located inside the madikeri town and luckily it was just behind our hotel we had to drive for just a minute to reach the temple.
Omkareswara Temple
The view of the main temple from the entrance. As the name itself says this is a Lord Shiva temple.
Rear view of the main temple
A view of Omkareshwara Temple's Kalyani (Pond)
Another view of the pond and the temple behind
From here we next headed towards Talacauvery which is the birth place of the river Cauvery. This place is located 48 km away from Madikeri and on the way we visited a place called Bhagamandala which is 40km from Madikeri and 8km before Talacauvery.
Bhagamandala
Bhagamandala is a village situated at a distance of 40 kms to the west of Madikeri and connected with all weather motorable road
The place derives its importanace from the temples near the rivers of Cauvery, Kannike and Sujyothi, which attracts a large number of pilgrims during the Tula month particularly at the time of Cauvery festival.
Bhagamandala is a name well-known to every pious person. It is here that the sacred rivers, the Cauvery the Kannike and the Sujyothi meet. According to the legend, it is said that Sujyothi a subterranean stream, joins Cauvery and Kannike here. Hence the place is popularly known as `Triveni sangama`.
When we reached this place we noticed that the temple here called as Bhagandeswhara temple was undergoing some major maintenance work. Hope to see a very well modified temple when we go here for the next time (may be after a long time)
A bird's eye view of the same Bhagandeswhara temple situated in Bhagamandala, taken from Talacauvery, which is 8 km away from Bhagamandala.
A beautiful view of the distant mountains from Talacauvery
Here is my favourite snap of the trip. Another beautiful view of the distant mountains
And here are some of the photos that showcases madikeri at its best
Talacauvery
Tala Cauvery is the birth place of the sacred river Cauvery. It is situated on the slopes of the Brahmagiri hills and can be reached by motorable road, from Bhagamandala, which is at a distance of about five miles or eight kilometres. These temples are dedicated to Eshwara and Ganapati at the source of the river.
There's a water reserve here, which is symbolic of the birthplace of the river. The ones who wanted to get a holy dip here can do so.
A near view of the Holy water which is at the tip of the water reserve as seen in the above picture. This is the holy water and public are not allowed to touch this. A priest who can be seen here, will put the holy water on your head if you are taking a dip in the pond.
The temple in Talacauvery
After reaching the source of Cauvery, many people venture a climb of about 300 feet to the summit of the Brahmagiri peak where, it is said that seven great sages meditated.
The entrance to the footsteps leading to the summit of the Brahmagiri peak.
A view of the steps leading to the summit
Beautiful picturesque landscapes as seen from the summit of the Brahmagiri peak. One of my favourite snaps.
Here's another one.
Here are some other photos showcasing the creativity of the Mother Nature
Another favourite of mine
Apart, from its great importance as a centre of pilgrimage, Tala Cauvery is an ideal place for a visit by the tourists for its natural beauty and extremely picturesque land scape.
We started back to Madikeri from Talacauvery at around 12:30 in the noon and reached madikeri town by 2PM. Had our lunch in madikeri in a restaurant called Athithi.
The food here was good and even the price was reasonably good. But the only thing that was not good here is the service. We had a very bad experience with the service provided there.
As the next day 12th Feb '07 was declared as a bandh with regard to the Cauvery tribunal and so we had decided to start our journey back to Bangalore right after the dinner.
We had thoughts of visiting Harangi Dam on the way back , but were been suggested by the locals there that the Dam was temporarily closed for the public visit in view of the cauvery tribunal related bandh ahead. So we decided not to visit the place and headed again in the Hassan-Bangalore route.
As all good things come to an end, so was our trip to the Coorg. We reached back Bangalore at around 8:30 PM and dropped off all our friends and reached home at the end by around 9PM and ticked off another place from our list
